+ Common Core Concepts +

+ inload: Furiel 8:04 +

+ Sergeant Raphael completed +

+ Of the Third Hour; ascended under the auspices of Veguaniel. Fourth of the name Furiel in the Eighth Cycle. +

+ Well, that's one marine off the bench and ready for action. I hope he's recognisable as an update of the Sergeant from the first squad of the original army. There are obvious differences in detail – the tilt plate is an obvious one – and working out how to paint the intricate details of the modern plastic against the softer, cleaner lead model was quite fun. ++ I toyed with yellow bolter casings, but decided in the end to stay as close as possible to the original inspiration with this squad. One little detail I really like on the new Primaris models is the little box for automatically blessing bolt shells – that, in a nutshell, is 40k for me. +

+ The shoulderpad on sergeants is reversed – red rim, black field – and this is something that has followed through right to the present day in the Blood Angels paint scheme. In fact, this article appeared in White Dwarf around the time that the lead models were transitioning from Mark VI beakies to the new Mark VII marines (late 120s to 130s):

+ At this formative point, we can see that it's only the left pad that's changed for Blood Angel sergeants – I suspect that Tim Prow decided a bit of balance looked better when he came to paint the models for the army. +

+ As an aside, this has been a very influential picture for me, as it has spawned not only these Blood Angels, but was one of the core images that inspired my Ultramarines many years ago. You'll notice that some of the captions under the pictures have little bits of colour text – brief little blurbs about special formations, campaigns, replacement armour plates and so forth. These really stuck with me, inspiring most of the drivel this blog is clogged up with! What I like best about this image is that it was very inclusive. There were notes that suggested the Space Marines fought in simpler and more complex schemes – many don't have the eagle painted, for example – making an 'historically-accurate' scheme achievable whatever your level of painting ability. +

+ The freehand Chapter symbol was fun (certainly more fun than the damn Iron Warriors' symbol!) to do, too. This shot also shows the basing – I've tried to create a slightly varied desert waste using various sandy browns. The intention is practical: being generic enough to serve as Baal or Armageddon, while fitting in nicely ++ The black areas, as usual, were not quite black – I've mixed in a hint of Flash Gitz Yellow and Charadon Granite to stop it being completely dead, and to give me some 'tonal room' to shade with.

+ One change I did make was to the backpacks, rendering them completely in metal – a nod to older models. Rather than deadening black, I washed them with Leviathan Purple and Seraphim Sepia. These mixed on the surface to form interesting neutrals. Because I also used these washes on the red armour, it helps to tie the piece together. ++ Note also the helmet on the belt. I wanted to hint at the Blood Angels' fondness for artistry, so this sergeant has been honoured with a slightly modified helm. While Raphael needed to be bare-headed (to follow the inspiration), I had to make the decision of what type to use across the army here, as squad 2 has a helmed sergeant. An elaborate haloed style would probably be too much – it would look over the top on the other sergeant, not to mention faintly ridiculous on the belt... +

+ The rght pad is an example of where I've gone off-piste a bit. The original simply has a white blood drop to indicate the third company. I decided that I'd add a supplementary small blood drop on either side of it, and a nameplate below, just to make this more personal to me. +

+ Theoretical: trying a new style +

+ I finish some models, with a flourish; the last brushstrokes being touched on with finality, and held up for inspection with a grin. This... was not one of them. Here, the painting trailed off – not through lack of enthusiasm, but simply because I felt I had lost my way a bit and was at risk of spoiling what I'd done. ++ Don't get me wrong: I'm happy with the result, but the process did bring up a couple of errors in my planning. Firstly, there's a natural conflict between emulating a particular way of painting and updating it – it's a bit like updating a car while keeping the classic appeal. Here, I consciously tried to keep things clean and crisp which, in all honesty, I found dreadfully boring. ++ Secondly, I think every artist has a natural style of painting, and unless they're extremely talented, that's going to show through. I don't think this is a typical 'Apologist' style paintjob, but I'm definitely not good enough of a painter to hide my style entirely! +

+ On the bright side, while I found the process of painting like this a bit mechanical and repetitive, it was useful in that it's helped me practise something I don't usually do – and that's the only way I'm going to improve. +